I’m brand new at turning, and now I must face the horror of sharpening. I feel about sharpening the same way some people feel about finishing. I’ve been known to buy a new tool rather than sharpen the old one. Get the picture? :-)

So, my question is… Do I really need to invest in a slow-speed grinder and a sharpening jig of some sort, or can I get by with an oil stone to knock off rough spots and a profile stone like this for honing?

I’ve avoided an expensive sharpening setup so far, but is that one of those things where I’ll kick myself and say “why did I wait so long”?

Charlie get a grinder. Learn how to use it. I think Charlie Neil has some videos on sharpening lathe tools. I’ve seen some other vids on You tube on sharpening, it ani’t rocket science. In the end it’ll save you a lot of grief, and less hang ups on your cuts on the lathe. Good turning bud, don’t forget your safety gear. Face mask, dust mask, etc. Oh yea, no gloves!

-- (You just have to please the man in the Mirror) Mike from Michigan -

Charlie, I’m fairly new at turning as well. The easiest jig I found for lathe tools is the Wolverine system by ONEWAY, Easy to setup and masterhttp://oneway.ca/sharpening/index.htmIt worked for me and I hate sharpening

Get a grinder, a high speed one is OK for HSS lathe tools. A little bluing of the steel on HSS won’t de-temper them. But don’t quench them in water, it seems to make the edge brittle. I happen to have my grinding station within arm’s reach of my table saw so I use the cast iron table as a giant heat sink to cool the steel.

There are jig patterns around the web for doing gouges. Made one, it works. And the Wolverine jig and its clones work too. Nova sells a nice little kit that lets you do gouges, bowl grind (fingernail), skews and scrapers. It works with both 6” and 8” grinders.

As to grinder speed, a dual speed or slow speed might make you feel more comfortable but for HSS, the 3400rpm models are fine. In fact, they work fine for other things you just need a light touch and a friable wheel.

Oh, and almost forgot, a few slip stones or diamond hones to remove burs and keep the inside curves true are nice to have.

Charlie, I fought with that for a couple of years just trying to get mine sharp where they would cut like I wanted. Last Christmas the wife got the the WS3000 Worksharp. That was the best investment ever. They are the sharpest they have ever been and cut like butter. I could not be any happier.

I’ve seen a lot of folks mention the Wolverine jig favorably, so I just ordered one. I’m going to stop by Lowes and check out a grinder. They show a Delta variable speed 8” for $138 that looks like it would do the trick.

If you like the instructor I think that he has 2 other videos before this. One on turning pens and one where he makes a bowl I think. I have watched most of the videos and in general they are pretty good in my opinion. There are a bunch of presenters but I think the turning guy really seems to know his stuff and conveys his message well.

I had a Wolverine Jig, used it a couple of times until it threw a chisel across the shop. If you want to get the best edge possible, nothing but nothing, but nothing will match a Tormek for a rasor sharp edge.

-- Roger-R, Republic of Texas. "Always look on the Bright Side of Life" - An eyeball to eyeball confrontation with a blind person is as complete waste of Time.

I have two bench grinders that I use very seldom. ( with setting a new tool mostly)The interim sharpening is done with this belt sander from Lee Valley.It’s quick and sets a new edge on my tools in seconds.There is a soft spot on the belt that you can roll a gouge in to bring up the edge. ( very handy)